Lewandowski urges teammate Gotze to prove his worth

Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski has challenged teammate Mario Gotze to show his worth amid speculation that the World Cup-winning German is poised for a Premier League switch in the summer.

Struggling to find a spot in Pep Guardiola's first team, Gotze has only appeared in 13 matches for the defending Bundesliga champs this season.

With reports suggesting that Gotze could join his former Borussia Dortmund manager, Jurgen Klopp, with his current club Liverpool in the summer, Lewandowski has implored his mate to remind the footballing world why he was once rated as a star on the rise.

"Mario proved during the international break that he is always capable of showing what he can do and that he is a great player," Lewandowski said, courtesy of Nick Lustig of Sky Sports.

"He should not be reading what people say about him in the papers. He does not need all the extra pressure. Mario knows how to deal with it, though. He is used to it. It is silly that there is so much talk about him."

While Gotze's World Cup-winning goal against Argentina seems an eternity ago, the Polish goal-machine has urged the German international to finish the 2015-16 top-flight season in fine form.

"He is a Bayern player and he has plenty of games left until the end of the season to prove that he is good enough for Bayern," Lewandowski said. "He has plenty of time to prove his critics wrong. He should stay at Bayern for a long time because he is a great player."